158
Impaneling Special Grand Juries
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As provided in 18 U.S.C. § 3331(a), the district court in
every
judicial district having more than four million inhabitants must
impanel a
special grand jury at least once every eighteen months (unless a
special grand
jury is then sitting); and the district court must also impanel a
special grand
jury when the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or a
designated
Assistant Attorney General certifies in writing to the chief judge
of the
district that in his/her judgment, a special grand jury is
necessary "because of
criminal activity in the district." (See 28 C.F.R. §
0.59 under which
the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division
is designated
to make certifications under 18 U.S.C. § 3331.)
District courts are authorized under 18 U.S.C. § 3332(b)
to impanel
additional special grand juries when the special grand juries
already impaneled
have more business than they can properly handle. When impaneling
additional
special grand juries, a court should make a finding as to the need;
and a court
should always make it clear that the special grand jury is being
impaneled under
18 U.S.C. § 3331 (and is therefore not subject to the
limitations of a
regular grand jury). See Wax v. Motley, 510 F.2d 318
(2d Cir.
1975).
The special grand jury has a duty under 18 U.S.C. §
3332(a) "to inquire
into offenses against the criminal laws of the United States
alleged to have been
committed within that district." Such alleged offenses may be
brought to the
jury's attention by the court or by any attorney appearing for the
United States
to present evidence to the jury. It is incumbent upon any such
government
attorney to whom it is reported that a Federal offense was
committed within the
district, if the source of information so requests, to refer the
information to
the special grand jury, naming the source and apprising the jury of
the
attorney's action or recommendation regarding the information.
[cited in USAM 9-11.101; USAM 9-11.300] | |